Physician and Provider Relations Outreach Growth Strategist

Ardent Health is a leading provider of healthcare in growing mid-sized urban communities across the U.S. With a focus on people and investments in innovative services and technologies, Ardent is passionate about making healthcare better and easier to access. Through its subsidiaries, Ardent delivers care through a system of 30 acute care hospitals, 24,000+ team members and more than 280 sites of care with over 1,800 affiliated providers across six states.

Lovelace Women’s Hospital the first and only hospital in New Mexico devoted to women’s health, has 173 licensed beds, including a 53-bed advanced neonatal intensive care unit, family care unit, an award-winning breast care center and the first robotic surgery program in the state recognized as a Center of Excellence in Robotic Surgery by Surgical Review Corporation.

Lovelace Westside Hospital provides care to Albuquerque’s Westside and Rio Rancho. It is home to a 24-hour emergency department, where patients can see a provider in about 30 minutes or less. It offers a wide range of inpatient and outpatient surgical capabilities, such as Ear Nose and Throat (ENT), bariatric and orthopedic service lines.

Position Summary

The Lovelace Health System is seeking a Physician Provider Relations and Outreach (PPRO) Growth Strategist to join their Outreach & Engagement Team. The ideal candidate is a high energy, market-facing business development professional responsible for driving growth across assigned service lines, hospital and clinical practice facilities, and geographic territories.

This role combines strategic account development, solution-focused consultation, market intelligence, and executive collaboration. The Growth Strategist uses claims data, referral patterns, market share, competitive intel, service line performance, and physician alignment insights to identify high-value growth opportunities and build targeted strategies to capture new business.

The successful candidate will bring a competitive, growth-oriented mindset and strong bias toward action, actively developing physician and provider relationships, partnering with service line and perioperative stakeholders, identifying referral barriers, uncovering competitive opportunities, and connecting referring providers with Lovelace specialists, services, and access points.

The Growth Strategist takes a proactive, growth-oriented approach to relationship management, identifying opportunities, advancing strategic conversations, converting prospects into business, and driving measurable growth through field activity.

Performance is measured through physician engagement, referral growth, account penetration, market share expansion, service line performance, and contribution to hospital and medical group financial goals.

Responsibilities

Serve as a market-facing extension of hospital and medical group leadership, focused on driving market share growth, and service line performance.

Build and advance strategic relationships with physicians, advanced practice providers, practice leaders, and other key referral sources to generate new business and strengthen existing accounts.

Prospect for new development opportunities, identify competitive opportunities and vulnerabilities, and develop targeted strategies to convert business from competitors.

Develop and execute data-driven territory, account, and service line growth plans aligned with hospital and medical group strategic priorities.

Maintain a strong command of the market, including referral patterns, splitter physician alignment, competitor activity, access barriers, service line trends, and emerging growth opportunities.

Translate market intelligence and field activity into actionable recommendations for hospital executives, medical group leadership, and service line leaders.

Establish clear account priorities, call strategies, and next steps designed to move opportunities through the business development process.

Meet defined growth targets for assigned service lines and territories while actively measuring activity, referral trends, account penetration, and business results.

Use CRM tools to actively manage target accounts, opportunity pipelines, reach and frequency, competitive intelligence, and follow-up activity.

Deliver compelling, differentiated service line messaging that connects physician and provider needs with Lovelace surgical and procedural specialists, capabilities, access, and services.

Partner with clinical operations and hospital leadership to identify and quickly resolve operational barriers that impact growth and patient experience.

Demonstrate strong business acumen, executive presence, persistence, and consultative selling skills when engaging physicians, practice leaders, and healthcare executives.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Additional years of experience may substitute for the required education on a year-for-year basis.
• 5 years of demonstrated sales experience or relevant work experience.
• 2 years of previous hospital or healthcare experience.
• Ability to work independently.
• Knowledge of the healthcare industry and current economic trends and challenges for healthcare systems.

Must demonstrate ability to understand larger strategic picture and how to leverage the role effectively to drive growth.

Ability to clearly understand hospital goals and ability to leverages understanding to reach goals; clearly aligns results to meet operator’s expectations.

• Translates initiatives into action and implements communication strategies.
• Ability to communicate effectively both written and verbal, and in a compelling way that drives other’s thoughts and actions and ensures understanding.
• Demonstrates strong interpersonal skills to influence and build effective relationships.
• Must work well in fast paced environment and be nimble to change.
• Must be coachable and be accountable to a professional development plan supported by manager.
• Some after-hours and weekend work may be required.
• Travel with occasional overnight trips may be required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous hospital and healthcare experience.
• Experience with Salesforce or other CRM software.